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Aardvark Town
“'Aardvark Town'” is the third episode of Season 1 of Wild Kratts, originally airing on PBS Kids on January 5, 2011. The episode was written and directed by Chris Kratt. On April 5, 2011, “Aardvark Town” was first released on DVD as part of Wild Kratts: Creature Adventures. In this episode, the Kratt brothers are in the African savanna, creating a digital map of the animal burrows in the region, when they stumble upon an aardvark and its baby. After the mother fights off a hyena and the Kratt brothers flee the scene, they find out that the baby aardvark has stowed away in Chris’s backpack. The Kratt brothers decide to find a way to reunite it with its mother. But after searching in several burrows, the Kratt brothers find out that the aardvark’s mother and other burrow-dwelling animals are being collected by inventor Zach Varmitech, who plans to use the aardvark to dig a pool for him. Overview "The Wild Kratts crew travels to Mozambique's Savanna to create a geological map of all the local aardvark dens, hoping to study the secrets of the rarely seen aardvark. But after a young aardvark accidentally becomes a stowaway in Chris' backpack, the team set off on a door-to-door search to return him to his home burrow, and find his mother. Along the way, they discover how aardvarks manipulate earth materials to alter landscapes and learn the incredible (and valuable) service this amazing animal provides to all burrow-living creatures of Africa. But after searching hole after hole, the Kratt brothers discover that the aardvark's mother and the other burrowing animals have been kidnapped by the evil inventor, Zach Varmitech, who plans to use the aardvark to dig his pool for him. They manage to stop Zach and return the mama aardvark to "Slurpy" while Zach has a run in with an angry warthog." Plot The episode begins with a live action segment. The Kratt brothers feed an aardvark some mealworms. Afterwards, they ask their “What if?” question and the show transitions into the cartoon segment. The Kratt brothers are in the Createrra VX, off-roading in the African savanna. Martin is at the wheel, but Chris notices that they are heading for a river. When Martin saw it, however, he floored straight forward, much to Chris' shock. The Createrra ramped up the bank and over the river. Chris was afraid they will not make it across, but after Martin assured him they will, he pushed a button, activating the vehicle's flight mode. They find a burrow and meet an aardvark mother and its baby. They observe the digging technique of the aardvarks with large claws like shovels to clear away dirt. The Kratts suddenly hear a laughing sound. A spotted hyena comes around to hunt the aardvarks. The mother digs an escape hole to get away, but it needs more time so it slashes at the hyena with its claws. Chris and Martin get away from the hyena in the Createrra. They soon realize they have a stowaway – the baby aardvark. Martin names it Slurpy. Slurpy had hidden in Chris’s backpack when the brothers drove off. They turn around in order to return him. Zach Varmitech is also in the savanna, collecting animals to use them for his own needs using robots. He is having trouble surviving under the hot sun so he commissions his Zachbots to dig him a pool. Zach overhears the Kratts talking about “the best digger in the world”. Seeing an opportunity to use the animal for his pool construction he orders the Zachbots to find an animal that lives in a burrow, since digging animals dig burrows. The brothers, on the other hand, begin their search for burrows. They found one of the burrows (the one Slurpy and his mother dug earlier), only to find it home to a warthog and her piglets. After they promise Slurpy they will find his mom, they mark the hole as the warthogs' home. Suddenly, the warthog lifts her tail straight into the air, signaling danger and warning her piglets to follow her back to the burrow; knocking down the Kratts in the process. They saw the danger in the form of a lion, and since the Aardvark Power Disks were not ready yet, they had to hide in the other burrows. Meanwhile, Zack is awaiting the return of his Zachbots and the animal they caught to dig his pool, sweltering in the heat. When they did arrive, they reveal the animal they caught in their bag as a warthog (most likely the mother warthog from earlier). Though slightly repulsed, Zach ordered it to make holes for his pool. However, the only hole it made was in Zach's ducky inner tube (which was not what he had in mind). Back at the burrows, Martin tells Chris that the lion left. Chris finds aardvark claw marks around the entrance of the hole he is in, hinting that Slurpy's mom might be in this hole. When they searched the burrow, instead of finding Slurpy's mom, they instead find a South African shelduck and her nest with 4 eggs. Martin is amazed that they can lay their eggs underground. Both brothers then remember that both shelducks and warthogs are unable to dig, leaving them to wonder who made all the burrows. When they both got out, they saw Slurpy digging and realize that aardvarks dug the holes; the other animals move into the ones the aardvarks are done with. The Kratts proceed to search the holes, knowing that Slurpy's mother had to be in one of them. They find some burrows inhabited by pythons, African crested porcupines, and even spotted hyenas (one which chases the brothers again), while Koki marked each and every one of them. Aviva was amazed by the way the aardvarks dig all the holes and how many creatures depending on them, but when Jimmy reminds her about Chris and Martin's hyena problem, she gets back to making the Aardvark Creature Power Suits. Returning to where Zach is, he confronts his Zachbots about the next critter they brought (the shelduck), since it lived in a burrow, Zach believes it should dig, but it was not. Frustrated, he orders them to keep searching until they find an animal that digs. After searching in twenty-three burrows, the brothers were lying exhausted upon a termite mound, still have not found Slurpy’s mom. They feel some thing biting them, finding them to be termites. As they talk about how big termite mounds would get, they watch Slurpy eat some of them, implying that he is hungry. they proceed to help him open the mound, but it is as hard as concrete. Luckily, Aviva finishes an Aardvark Power Disc, Jimmy teleports it over to the Kratts, and Martin gets to be the first to test it out(Chris falls from the termite mound, dropping the disc). Aviva told the Kratts that while they feed Slurpy, she and Koki will check more holes. Martin uses the Suit’s claws to break the mound so Slurpy can easily slurp up termites with his long tongue, which Chris stated as 12 inches long, super sticky, and able to catch 100 termites in 1 slurp. Martin tries out the Aardvark Power Suit's tongue feature, only to get tangled in it and sent spinning. Chris observes the termites rebuilding the mound, showing that they mix mud and spit to give the nest its hardness. The open nest attracts another termite eating creature: an aardwolf. Martin states that they also follow aardvarks so they can eat at the termite mounds they open. Chris stated that the aardvarks help a lot of animals, then wonders if anyone helps them. Aviva suddenly contacts the bros, telling them that the holes she and Koki checked are all empty, all the animals in them are missing, and "Aardvark Town" has been reduced to a ghost town. Though worried, they see that the aardwolf senses something. They follow her, hoping she can lead them to Slurpy's mom. At Zach's campground, Zach's Zachbots have captured more animals, along with Slurpy’s mom. Zach demanded to know which of them digs holes. Upon seeing the aardvark dig, he finally finds the digging varmint he needs, and after having the Zachbots install a robotic vest on Slurpy's mother, he has her start digging his pool, burying several Zachbots in the process. At this point, the Kratt brothers arrive and realize Zach's plan. They confront him and tell him to release the aardvark. Zach refuses and has her shovel dirt at the brothers, knocking them into the deep side of his unfinished pool and trapping them. Luckily for them, Slurpy dug over to them. Aviva finishes a second Aardvark Disc, so now both of the brothers are equipped with Aardvark Powers. They trash Zach’s Zachbots and release the aardvark and the other animals. Then a lion charges at them, so everyone hides in a hole, everyone except for Zach, who falls into a puddle of mud. Zach admits defeat, and leaves the African savanna after he is lifted up by his jet’s tractor beam. Later, the Wild Kratts thank the aardvarks by digging them a large burrow to live in. The show transitions into the ending live action segment. The Kratt brothers hide meal worms in the dirt for the aardvark to find. After the aardvark finds them all, they conclude the episode by saying “Keep on creature adventuring; we’ll see you on the creature trail!” Cast Starring *Chris Kratt as Chris Kratt *Martin Kratt as Martin Kratt *Athena Karkanis as Aviva Corcovado *Heather Bambrick as Koki *Jonathan Malen as Jimmy Z *Zachary Bennett as Zach Varmitech Animals Animation *'Aardvark:' Slurpy *Spotted Hyena *Warthog *Lion *South African Shelduck *African Rock Python *African Crested Porcupine *Termite *Aardwolf Mentioned Note: Mentioned animals are linked to Wikipedia. * Pig * Elephant Live Action Note: Live-action-only specimens are linked to Wikipedia. *Mealworm Key facts and Creature Moments * When digging, aardvarks use their front claws to scoop dirt, their back feet to clear it away, and their tails to smooth it out * Although they are nicknamed "earth pig", aardvarks are more closely related to elephants. * Aardvark claws are as strong as a pickaxe. * Observing the digging habits of the aardvark. * Defensive techniques against hyenas Trivia * This episode marks the debut of the series' main antagonist, Zachary Varmitech. * The Createrra VX is shown to have a flight mode. * Chris has a fossil collection. * Martin states that warthogs are incapable of digging, although warthogs can use their snout and tusks to make their own burrows in addition to using an aardvark's. References Category:Episodes with Villains Category:Season One Episodes